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What is the synonym for "in this sense"?
Is "in this sense" equivalent to "in other words"? Or it is equivalent to "to this end"? Or none of them?

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Sense means (among other things) "one of the possible meanings of a word or phrase" (Cambridge).

Cambridge also defines:

  • "in every sense": in every way or feature
  • "in a sense": thinking about something in one way, but not in every way
  • "in no sense": not at all

It does not give a specific definition of "in this sense", but it means "in this way" or "under this definition".

Examples:

  • "A blockbuster was originally a bomb... a blockbuster is literally a bomb large enough to destroy an entire block of buildings. In this sense, the first blockbusters were produced by the RAF during the second word war." (Guardian) (=in this meaning)
  • "In Spain, the word convivencia alludes to ‘living together with others’, the quality of a society where citizens get along by practising tolerance and mutual respect. In this sense, it comes close to meaning a ‘civic culture’." (BBC) (=in this shade of meaning/under this definition)
  • "Christians believe that God has unconditional and enduring love for all human beings, known as agape. They believe that he showed this love by sacrificing his son, Jesus, to atone for human sin. In this sense, agape is also a self-sacrificing kind of love." (BBC) (=understood in this way)
  • "Liberal in the sense of free-ranging: so that the unexpected can be discovered and experienced by student and teacher alike, that the intellect might soar and know no boundaries. In this sense a liberal education may, and indeed should, consist as much of science as of history or classics or music." (Guardian) (=under this definition)
  • "In order to make all this potential accessible, especially to our younger generations, we need that mutual understanding which is not possible without the knowledge of the partner's language. In this sense, the acquisition of foreign language skills is, as ever larger sections of the British public are realising, a cultural and economic necessity." (Independent) (=in this way/respect)

It is probably obvious from the foregoing, but no, "in this sense" doesn't mean the same thing as "in other words", nor "to this end".

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